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Roller Derby 101

If you're gearing up for Sunday's Lowcountry High Rollers bout but you're not quite sure what to expect, Reina has written up a fun little blurb to get you all prepared. You can also check out official rules from the Women's Flat-Track Derby Association here.

1. First thing’s first. Once you get to the game, go grab a drink (we prefer a nice, cold beer here), and head down to the rink.

2. Mentally prepare yourself for the total ass-kickery that is a roller derby.

3. Get to know the players. Women's flat-track roller derby bouts have two teams. The ladies skate in packs of five with jammers, pivots, and blockers. The jammer is the only one who can score points by lapping around members of the opposing team. Blockers of the other team try to stop the jammer while pushing their own gal forward to score a point or two. And finally, the pivot acts as a referee of sorts; she calls the plays, controls the speed of her team, and keeps a look out on everything. Oh, and she blocks too.

5. Check out the helmets. It's easy to tell who is who by their helmets: jammers wear two stars (one on each side of the helmet), where the pivot wears a big stripe. The blockers wear plain helmets. Got it? It's a lot to take in, but not too bad once you watch a bout in live action.

6. Okay. So you're watching, right? Did you see a derby girl jammer skate past faster than the other pack to grab the lead? Or a blocker putting in work and some serious damage to an opposing chick?

7. Pick this derby girl, make her your favorite, and then cheer for her the rest of the bout. —Reina Gascon-Lopez